Eleos (Book two in The Empaths series)

Chapter Eight

"Nice reflexes," Jared said with a laugh.

Lucy rolled her eyes and bent to pick up the keys, then turned to head off along the side of the house. "Let's get a move on," she said over her shoulder.

The rest of the group followed behind, Jared still chuckling. Rachel shook her head and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't be mean," she whispered.

"She's fine," Jared replied, waving a hand in his sister's direction.

They split up when they reached the cars.

Riley and Rachel climbed into Jared's black Camaro – Riley squeezing into the back via the pushed forward front seat.

"I've been meaning to ask what the deal is with this car?" Riley asked as he slid into the middle of the backseat.

"What do you mean?" Jared replied, firing up the engine and grinning across at Rachel, who giggled.

Riley rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean," he answered. "Why, and how, did you buy this particular car?"

"Well," Jared began with a shrug, "when our parents died, everything was left in Scarlett's name. When she sold the house, she gave Lucy and I enough money to each buy a car." He shifted it into reverse and backed out of the garage. "And the reason I chose this particular car," he continued, quickly looking over his shoulder at Riley, "was because it was something that dad and I had once wanted to do together – buy an old classic and fix it up."

Riley sat quietly in the back, biting his lip. He nodded sadly before saying, "Makes perfect sense."

Jared smiled at Riley in the rear-view mirror. "I found this baby at an old car lot for a bargain price and I just had to grab it, if for no other reason than to remember my dad." He gently patted the steering wheel, and Rachel reached over to rub his arm.

"Well, it's a great car," Riley said, also reaching over to squeeze Jared's shoulder.

"Thanks, Riles," Jared replied. "Now, whose house are we stopping at first?"

Rachel said, "Mine," at the same time Riley said, "Rachel's," and they all laughed.

"Rachel's place it is," Jared said, accelerating down the driveway to the road.

                                *                             *                             *                             *                             *

Lucy stood in the hallway of Lilith's house, watching on with a grin as Lilith frantically went through her things, trying to decide exactly what she would need to take with her to Eleos.

"I mean, what the heck do we take?" she finally said, stopping stock still in the middle of the room and dropping her hands to her sides.

Tristan was leaning on her doorframe, chuckling. "Whatever you want to take," he answered with a shrug. "You're not limited to one bag, you know?"

"I know," Lilith replied, looking forlorn. "It's just so hard to pick the most important stuff." She scanned the room, taking everything in. "There are so many things that I really don't want to leave behind."

Lucy entered the room and stood in front of Lilith, placing her hands gently on Lilith's shoulders. "Just take a deep breath, relax, and pick out the things you love the most. We'll wait downstairs so you're not feeling pressured."

"I don't want to hold you guys up," Lilith began, but Lucy shook her head.

"Stop worrying, and just remember that we're not leaving Blackwood forever. We'll be back. Whatever you leave behind now, you can return to collect later." She leaned down to look directly into Lilith's eyes. "Okay?"